I live on a small pond and have stocked it with the usual bass,
crappie, bluegill and catfish.
Yesterday I was fishing and caught a 4.25 lb largemouth on a senko and
4/0 wide gap worm hook. When I got it in, I noticed that I didn't catch
the fish on the lip but he had *almost* swallowed it. I gently tugged
it but it wouldn't give so I cut the line as close to the hook as I
could get and put him back in the water. He swam away pretty healthily
and I figure he'll spit the hook and senko out eventually.
Is this the right thing to do? I didn't want to keep it out of the
water too long and was afraid I'd tear it up if I tried much else - as
it was, I could see no evidence of bleeding, so that was good.
So, was there anything else I could/should have done?